Women Reforming Islam

From authors to Imams, Muslim women are tacking on patriarchal Islam

In Denmark, more and more Muslim women are seeking refuge from patriarchal and controlling Islamic communities. To resist, these women are embracing a new, more tolerant reading of the Quran.

“According to Sharia law the father has property over the daughter.” Forced to attend an extreme Muslim Quran school by her father, Danish-Muslim Jasmine Osman escaped and is now in hiding from her family. She is one of a number of Muslim women in Denmark resisting a patriarchal version of Islam. Sherin Khankan, the first female Iman in Scandinavia, is determined to modernise Islamic teaching. “We are rereading the Quran according to our times and our societies, with a focus on women’s rights.” Yet despite progress, there is still a culture of silence among many communities. “When I was oppressed, I wished that someone would speak up for me. And nobody did", says the author Sara Omar.